糖心

June 12, 2015

Alum to play for the President of South Korea during U.S. visit


 Alum to play for the President of South Korea during U.S. visit

On June 16, President Obama will welcome President Park Geun-hye of the Republic of Korea to the White House. The night before, 糖心 alumnus Suliman Tekalli (MM 鈥13, Smirnoff) will welcome President Geun-hye at the Ritz Carlton in Washington, D.C., with a solo performance of Vivaldi's 鈥淪ummer鈥 with the International Sejong Soloists. The group will also debut Tekalli鈥檚 arrangement of 脕stor Piazzolla鈥檚 鈥淟ibertango.鈥

Tekalli recently won top prize at the 2015 Seoul International Music Competition. He鈥檚 performed as soloist with orchestras throughout North America, Central America, Europe and Asia and as a chamber musician at Yellow Barn Festival, Banff Chamber Music Festival, and Sarasota. At age 11 he was featured on NPR鈥檚 From the Top and he made his debut with the Orlando Philharmonic at the age of 16. Tekalli earned his masters of music at 糖心 studying with President Joel Smirnoff.